Morning Glow - Daffodil WIP (watercolor demonstration)

My daffodils are FINALLY blooming! I'm so happy. This morning I went out and took a bunch of photographs and I decided to make this a watercolor WIP (work in progress). This is an ACEO (Art Cards, Editions, & Originals) 3.5 x 2.5 inches. I used watercolor on Arches 140 lb hot press paper and then at the end I went over some parts with watercolor pencil but I didn't blend the pencil with water. To bid on this ACEO on Ebay, click here.

I first drew my daffodils on. I lost a little more of the left daff than I had wanted but it works OK because the focus is on the taller one. I used New Gamboge, to paint a wash on the flowers, Cerulean Blue in the background and Winsor Green and more New Gamboge to paint the stems & leaves. Hot press paper is smooth and requires more building up of the paint than cold press.

I used burnt sienna and winsor green to develop the darks in the leaves and ground. Cadmium orange for the centers of the flowers and cobalt blue, rose madder and new gamboge to paint the shadows. I didn't completely mix the 3 colors but let some of it mix on the paper so it wouldn't look flat.

I just continued to build up the color using the same colors mentioned above. Then I used some cerulean watercolor pencil to go over the back a little and some alizarin crimson pencil to go over the shadows on the daff and over the burnt sienna in the background. I like the additional look from the pencil strokes and it intensified the color.

Swallowtail & Lilacs

Happy Spring!

7 x 11

Another Daffodil

"Up Close" 5 x 7

I painted this daffodil with watercolor on gessoed watercolor paper. I randomly cover about 50-75% of the paper with gesso making lots of marks. This makes a very interesting texture when you paint on top of it. I also try to go dark in the background with the first wash because the watercolor doesn't soak in to the gesso so if you go back over it, you will lift paint. This also creates lots of interesting texture possibilities. It's a lot of fun when painting organic subjects. Tuscan Pear is another example of watercolor on gesso. Click here to bid on Ebay.

Childhood Memories Art Show on EBSQArt - I entered my collage piece from Monday into this show. Click here to view it and if you'd like, you can register as a patron and vote for your favorite painting in any show on EBSQArt. (P.S. My piece is on the very last page.)

P.S. Thanks if you voted in the EBSQArt show. My piece won Member's Choice.

Ready for Spring

"Daffodil Morning"

In anticipation of spring which seems like it's taking forever to get to, I've listed this daffodil watercolor on Ebay. I painted it in the fall and apparently forgot to share. :) It's almost square at 6.75 x 7.5 inches. It would look stunning in a frame. I am anxiously awaiting my new crop of daffodils to bloom. They look like it could happen any day now. If we'd only get some sun...*sigh*

Childhood Memories - Mixed Media painting

Today I played with mixed media. I made this piece for the EBSQArt Childhood Memories show (which you can vote on starting April 1 through April 7). I used acrylic, collage, watercolor crayon, pastel pencil, and Crayola crayon to create this artwork. The small drawings were actually done my son who is the subject.



dimensions = 10 x 10
(though my scanner cuts off about 1/2" on each side.)

Life Begins

Several images came to mind when I was thinking of how I wanted to illustrate "life begins" for the Daily Watercolors Wednesday theme. I have experienced many changes in my life this past year and I can say that I am transitioning into something much greater than I could ever have imagined. I chose a butterfly to symbolize "life begins" because once they have transitioned from a caterpillar, they soar and life really begins for them! To bid on Ebay, click here.

Sunday Painter

This is for my friend Erika! Thanks for the encouragement. ;)

To bid on Ebay, click here.